Reed construction



Aug. 23, 1966 C. L. ROBERTS 3,267,791

REED CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 24, 1965 'FI 1 AZ INVENTOR.

A T TORNE Y3 CHARLES L. ROBERTS- United States Patent 3,267,791 REED CONSTRUCTION Charles L. Roberts, Chamberlain, S. Dak., assignor to Roberts Enterprises, Inc., Chamberlain, S. Dak. Filed Aug. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 482,167 3 Claims. (Cl. 84383) This invention pertains to a new and improved construction of reeds for musical instruments, and more particularly to a reed having grooves or ribs extending generally longitudinally therealong to' change the vibrating characteristics.

Prior art reeds are constructed almost exclusively from natural cane reed, hence the name. Some reeds have been constructed from plastic and the like, but in general these reeds have very poor quality because the reed must be constructed very thin to vibrate properly and give a good tone quality and, in general, artificial materials cannot maintain the necessary resiliency to sustain vibrations at the required thicknesses. Also, these prior art artificial reeds require great skill in the construction thereof and, therefore, are extremely costly. Because of the construction of prior art artificial and natural cane reeds, these reeds can be very difficult to operate for all but the professional musician and can be quite easily overblown to distort the tone produced thereby.

In the present invention a reed, which may be constructed ofnatural cane or any artificial material, such as plastic or the like, is constructed with a plurality of generally longitudinal ribs extending along a substantial portion adjacent the free or vibrating end of the reed. These ribs might be in the form of protrusions extending outwardly from the normal surface of the reed, or they might be produced by cutting grooves into the surface of a reed whereby the remainder appears to have ridges thereon. In one embodiment a groove is cut or otherwise machined in the surface'of the reed generally parallel and adjacent to each longitudinal edge thereof. The depth of the groove increases from the vibrating tip of the reed to the portion adapted to be anchored to the reed to allow it to bend or distort along an axis parallel to the length of the reed while the reed is vibrating, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in addition to the normal vibrations, illustrated in FIG. 4. This distortion of the reed about the longitudinal axis thereof produces many more harmonics than the prior art reeds which greatly improves the tone quality. In particular, the present reed greatly simplifies the operation of the musical instrument and allows novice musicians, who have not developed the embochure necessary for good tone quality on prior art reeds, to produce good tone' quality. This improvement in tone quality occurs because less lip tension is required and, therefore, this improvement will benefit even professional musicians since they will have more endurance.

In addition, this rib-type construction provides all the advantages of a soft reed while at the same time retaining the advantages of a stiff reed. Thus, it is very diflicult to over-blow an instrument containing the present reed whereas in prior art devices overblowing often occurs, particularly by the inexperienced. Because the ribs add additional stifiness to the reed, plastic and other artificial reeds constructed in this fashion will maintain the necessary resiliency to sustain vibrations. Therefore, this reed can be constructed inexpensively and efficiently from artificial materials and by machines.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved reed for musical instruments.

3,267,791 Patented August 23, 1966 ,vide a reed for musical instruments having all the advantages of a soft reed and a stiff reed simultaneously.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a reed for musical instruments which may be constructed of natural cane or artificial materials without greatly reducing the tone qualities.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification, claims, and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIG. 1 is a view in bottom plan of a clarinet mouthpiece containing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the clarinet mouthpiece containing the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 44 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 5-5 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a plan view in elevation of a different embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 as seen from the right end thereof; and

FIG. 8 is a view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 as seen from the left end thereof.

In the figures the numeral 10 generally designates a clarinet or saxaphone mouthpiece having an opening 11 therethrough for the passage of air into the main body of the instrument.- A reed clamp 12 having a pair of .the reed 15 over the opening ll. The tip 17 ofthe reed 15 is substantially reduced in cross-section for vibration ,with the passage of air through the opening 11. The

reed 15 is tapered gradually from the full cross-section at the anchoring portion 16 to the very thin tip 17 at the extreme end of the mouthpiece 10. The beginning of this tapering is indicated by a full line designated 18.

Since the reed 15 has a substantially arcuate upper surface, which is normal for a piece of natural cane, the line 18 at which the tapering of the reed or the reduction in cross-section begins, is also substantially arcuate.

A groove 20 having a somewhat arcuate cross-section extends from the right edge of the reed 15 adjacent the line 18, viewing FIG. 1 from the right, and curves slightly to extend toward the free tip 17 substantially parallel to the longitudinal edge of the reed 15. Thus, a rib 21 is produced on the upper surface of the reed 15 along the right edge thereof. The groove 20 is constructed so that the material at the bottom thereof has approximately the same width throughout the length of the groove. Thus, the rib 21 is somewhat thicker toward the body of the instrument and tapers out into the plane of the tip 17. In a like fashion a groove 22 is provided adjacent the left edge of the reed 15, as viewed from the right of FIGURE 1, which in turn produces a rib 23.

The grooves 20 and 22 also produce a centrally located rib 25 which tapers from the line 18 transversely into the grooves 20 and 22 and longitudinally into the plane of the tip 17. The center rib 25 adds the desired stiffness to the reed 15 and restricts vibration to the correct areas. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the tip 17 of the reed 15 vibrates about a transverse axis in a manner similar to a prior art reed. However, because of the grooves 20 and 22 the edges or ribs tudinal axis. This vibration of the longitudinal edges of the reed about the longitudinal axis produces harmonies which greatly add to the quality of the tone.

FIGS. 6 through 8 illustrate another embodiment of the present invention in which the width of the anchoring portion 16 is greatly reduced. The width of the reed 15' is the same as the width of the reed 15 from the line 18', which is the beginning of the tapering, to the tip 17'. A center rib 2'5 tapers gradually into the plane of the tip 'as in the other embodiment but the grooves 20 and 22,

positioned adjacent either longitudinal edge, are parallel to the longitudinal axis their entire length. Thus, this embodiment is somewhat simpler to construct since the grooves 20' and 22' do not have a curved portion.

It should be understood that the grooves 20 and 22 are cut or otherwise machined into the surface of the reed 1-5, but in the event the reed 15 consists of plastic or other artificial material the grooves 20 and 22 might be molded into the reed 15 or the ribs 21, 23 and 25 might be molded onto the upper surface thereof. Also, rib's might be molded into a reed having a slightly different configuration than those shown while still being within the scope of this invention.

Thus, I have described and illustrated an improved reed for a musical instrument having means included therein for causing the reed to bend or distort about the longitudinal axis while the tip thereof vibrates about an axis transverse thereto. This movement of the longitudinal edges of the reed produces many harmonics which greatly improve the tone of the reed and cause the operation thereof by a musician to be much simpler. In addition, the longitudinal ribs cause the reed to have all of the advantages of a soft reed and a stiff reed simultaneously thereby practically eliminating such problems as overblowing. The longitudinal ribs 21, 23 and 25 increase the stiffness sufficiently to allow the reed to be manufactured from artificial materials such as plastic or the like without greatly impairing the tone qualities. Because the reed may be manufactured from artificial materials it can be manufactured by machine and, therefore, the manufacturing costs are greatly reduced.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of this invention, further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. I deside it to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular form shown and I intend in the appended claims to cover all of the modifications which '21 and 23 have a tendency to move about the longido not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention. 0

What is claimed is:

1. A reed for musical instruments comprising:

(a) an anchoring portion for fixedly attaching the reed to the musical instrument,

(b) a free portion having a gradually diminished thickness adjacent the end thereof for vibrating when air is passed thereover,

(c) grooves in said reed extending generally longitudinally therealong,

(d) said grooves having a lower wall with an approximately constant thickness over the length thereof,

(e) said grooves being characterized by gradually diminishing in depth at the end lying in said free portion as the thickness of said free portion approaches the thickness of the lower wall of said grooves, and

(f) said grooves being further characterized by each having a second end which terminates adjacent an edge of said free portion whereby the tree portion of said reed is capable of a complex vibration about more than one axis.

2. A reed for musical instruments substantially as set forth in claim 1 wherein the grooves extend somewhat arcuately in a generally longitudinal direction from adjacent the end of said free portion to adjacent an edge thereof.

3. A reed for musical instruments comprising:

(a) an anchoring portion for fixedly attaching the reed to the musical instrument,

(b) a free portion having a gradually diminished width adjacent the end thereof for vibrating when air is passed thereover, and

(c) concave portions of said free portion in communication with the edges thereof having substantially reduced thickness, said concave portions being positioned to lend complex vibrations to said reed about more than one axis.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,667,836 5/1928 Brockman 84-383 2,230,933 2/1941 Caire et a1 84-383 2,318,515 5/1943 Nemeck 84-383 2,342,836 2/ 1944 Brilhart 84383 2,456,299 12/ 1948 Miller 84383 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Examiner.

CHARLES M. OVE-RBEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A REED FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS COMPRISING: (A) AN ANCHORING PORTION FOR FIXEDLY ATTACHING THE REED TO THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT, (B) A FREE PORTION HAVING A GRADUALLY DIMINISHED THICKNESS ADJACENT THE END THEREOF FOR VIBRATING WHEN AIR IS PASSED THEREOVER, (C) GROOVES IN SAID REED EXTENDING GENERALLY LONGITUDINALLY THEREALONG, (D) SAID GROOVES HAVING A LOWER WALL WITH AN APPROXIMATELY CONSTANT THICKNESS OVER THE LENGTH THEREOF, 